Background: Placement in institutions has once been the most popular rehabilitative measures for children beyond control in Malaysia. It has been enforced through the court’s order since British colonisation and continues until today. Throughout the historical development, children beyond control were sent to various institutional settings including the approved schools, probation hostels, place of refuge, privately-owned centres, and Henry Gurney Schools. However, this practice was criticised since it contradicts the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child’s principle which places institutionalisation as the last resort in the rehabilitation of children. Prior researches indicate that institutionalisation raises the issues of, inter-alia, stigma, deterioration of family relationship and interruption of academic development. Acknowledging the importance of family involvement in rehabilitating the children, the Child Act 2001 was amended recently with the objective, among others, to introduce family-based care. Therefore, this study is conducted to analyse the legal development of institutionalisation of children beyond control in Malaysia and the effect of the Child Act (Amendment) 2016 on institutionalisation of the children. This study is carried out through library research and semi-structured interviews with those involved directly in handling children beyond control cases including the officers of the Department of Social Welfare, probation officers and officers in charge of the probation hostels. The study found that despite of the heavy reliance made to the institutions for rehabilitation of children beyond control, institutionalisation has been reduced recently through the introduction of family-based care by the Child Act (Amendment) 2016.
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In-Text Citation: (Nong & Yusoff, 2019)
To Cite this Article: Nong, S. N. A. S., & Yusoff, J. Z. M. (2019). Rehabilitation of Children Beyond Control in Malaysia: Towards Deinstitutionalization. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 9(3), 449–459.
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